The Relationship Between a Woman and Her Handbag is Sacred.

My handbag is my best friend.  Really.  My handbag knows everything that is going on in my life.  From when I get my period, to how much money I have, to what prescriptions I’m taking, to how disorganized I really am. Things I wouldn’t flat out tell my closest friends, my handbag is intimately aware of.  And best of all, my handbag knows how to keep my secrets safe.  Keep her mouth zipped so to speak.

You will never find a friend who is so adaptable, so willing to go along with whatever my mood.  We even color coordinate our outfits.  She switches from a practical travel bag when I am feeling active, to a pretty clutch when we go for a nice dinner or to a large tote if I need to bring everything but the kitchen sink along.

Wherever I go, my handbag goes with me.  We do everything together.  She sits in my passenger seat for long drives, always ready with a mint or a Kleenex.  She hangs out with me in restaurants, always nearby. She is agreeable to whatever movie I want to see and is always quiet throughout the film and hangs on to the M&M’s.

Maybe it sounds one-sided.  But it’s not, really.  I don’t take her for granted.  I protect her from the rain. Never leave her just lying around.  I always keep an eye on her.  She is always safely next to me.  I never burden her with too much.

If I ever lost my handbag, I’d be mortified.  If I don’t know where she is for even a moment, I panic.  If I forget her somewhere, you know I’ll go right back and get her before anything can happen to her.  I can’t imagine a day without her.

My family understands our special relationship.  They respect our bond by not messing with my handbag ever.  They know that a woman’s handbag is hands off.

They say a dog is man’s best friend.  That may be so.  But when it comes to women, her handbag is her best friend.

We’re “Letting the Cat Out of the Bag” On These Handbag Expressions.

Sure your handbag is special, some of them are probably really really special.  Some of them probably are conversation starters.  But did you ever realize how much our handbags and bags are actually incorporated into our conversations?

A handbag is not just a pretty accessory, it’s been part of our existence since back in the day when men carried coin purses.  To hold the purse strings or to control the purse strings goes back to late middle English, when purses were closed by the purse strings.   The person who controls the strings, controls the money.  So, the next time you find yourself wondering, “I wonder who controls the purse strings in that family,” check out whose opening and closing the drawstring handbag.

While you might want to be the one controlling the finances in your relationship, you might not want to be the one left “holding the bag”.   According to the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, this phrase dates back to the 1600’s to “give one the bag.”   The one left “holding the bag” is the one left in the lurch, holding the empty bag, while the guilty parties have taken off with the valuable contents.  Of course, with the recent record breaking auctioning off of designer handbags, sometimes the one left holding the bag might be better off.

Sure, you’re impressed with my handbag history, you may even be asking yourself, what else does she have in her “bag of tricks”?  The origin of this bag phrase has been credited to Aesop, to the Brothers Grimm and to Lafontaine.  In all cases the story related to a cunning fox.  To have a bag of tricks is to have many resources and talents to turn to.

Can you think of any handbag related expressions?  Join in the conversation.